MSt in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment

The Master of Studies (MSt) in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE) is a transformative part-time master’s course at the University of Cambridge, for global practitioners working in the built environment. The programme is structured around emerging trends, opportunities and challenges within the built environment such as: sustainability and resilience; health and well-being; energy efficiency; conservation and heritage; stakeholder engagement, and political and regulatory landscapes.

The learning approach is highly interactive and designed to encourage reflection and debate. Participants are supported by a team of expert tutors and supervisors. The speakers, lecturers and facilitators are leading experts and practitioners from both academia and industry. A key feature of the programme is the collaborative learning experience. The programme facilitates shared learning between peers, and networking with the extensive range of contributors, together providing a rich learning environment.

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Overview

The MSt in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE) is aimed at practising professionals with at least three years' work experience in the built environment since graduating. IDBE is for all those involved in the commissioning, design, construction and management of projects in the built environment. The course attracts students from a range of professions from across the sector including, but not limited to; architects, engineers, surveyors, planners, landscape architects, project managers, facility managers, surveyors, urban designers, property developers and contractors, who wish to develop their understanding of and responses to the global challenges and opportunities facing the built environment. It is offered by the Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education in association with the Departments of Architecture and Engineering.

The course aims to equip professionals for strategic decision making, inventive problem solving and team leadership; to develop skills in effective collaboration and communication, particularly between clients, consultants, contractors, specialists and occupiers; and to provide a strategic overview of the production of the built environment including current challenges faced by the construction industry such as technological innovation, global climate change, resilience and sustainability. The course is part-time and lasts for two years. During that time, students spend six separate residential weeks studying in Cambridge at three-or four-month intervals as well as taking part in online modules. Each of these residential weeks comprises an intensive programme of formal lectures (from leading practitioners and university academics), workshops and seminars, and a design project in small interdisciplinary teams.

The IDBE Master’s explores how successful, sustainable built environment projects rely on the coordinated effort and visioning of multiple disciplines and professions, and it encourages the integration of skills between specialists from different background disciplines to improve project design. The course themes include:

Leadership and interdisciplinary practice

Sustainability and resilience

Innovation and technology

Design thinking and practice

Research skills

The course examines these themes across a diversity of contexts:

Living environments

Working environments

Moving environments (infrastructure and transportation)

Heritage environments

Future urban environments

Assessment is based on four written assignments: one 4,000-word case study, one 3,000-word essay, a group project of no more than 7,000 words and in the second year a 15,000-word thesis. Students receive academic supervisions for their assignments, and are also supported by a director of studies throughout their course.

Learning outcomes

Broad strategic understanding of the context of design and of current challenges and opportunities facing the production of the built environment, such as technological innovation, environmental sustainability, resilience, demographic changes and rising expectations by society for improvements in quality and delivery of architecture and the built environment.

Awareness of the contribution made by the built environment to the quality of people's lives including their physical health, mental well-being and other social outcomes.

Critical awareness of current issues and new insights emerging at the forefront of the discipline and which advance professional practice.

Systematic understanding of the status of knowledge and the way in which techniques of enquiry and research are used to create and produce new knowledge in the discipline.

The ability to pursue a reasoned argument, including the critical evaluation of assumptions, abstract concepts and evidence in the making of judgements, together with the ability to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution – or identify a range of solutions – to a problem.

A reflective attitude towards practice and learning, including awareness of the differing (and sometimes conflicting) motivations and values of professional colleagues from other disciplines, and the criteria and expectations of users and other stakeholders including society at large.

A positive approach towards continuing professional development including an independent and self-directed learning ability to advance knowledge and understanding.

An understanding of professional ethics including personal and professional responsibilities to individuals and to wider society as a whole.

Leadership, effective communication and presentation, negotiation and team participation.

Research skills including undertaking a literature review, identifying gaps and challenges in existing knowledge, framing research questions and conducting an investigation in the search for answers, gathering evidence and data systematically and analysing it so as to answer the research questions, presenting the findings of the investigation, drawing conclusions, and identifying implications for policy and practice.

Design skills based on inventiveness, originality and the application of knowledge to create innovative solutions to design problems.

Continuing

To continue to read for the PhD degree following the course, MSt in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment students must achieve an overall total score of at least 70 per cent. Continuation is also subject to Faculty approval of the proposed research proposal, and the availability of an appropriate supervisor.

Teaching

Teaching on the course is delivered though a mix of lectures, workshops and seminars during the residential weeks. Each residential week comprises an intensive programme of formal lectures (from leading practitioners and university academics), workshops and seminars. A design project relating to the theme of the week is undertaken in small interdisciplinary teams, which present their design proposals to reviewers at the end of each of the weeks. Through the design project students apply and implement what they have been taught, as well as benefiting from the knowledge and expertise of their team members; in this, the design projects support experiential learning.

In preparing the four individual written assignments (one 4,000-word case study; one 3,000-word essay; one 7,000-word group project; and a 15,000 word thesis in the second year) students are supported by academic supervisors whom they meet on an individual basis. The assignments are progressive in that they help to build the capacity to write clearly and concisely, to reflect on experience, to undertake a formal literature review on a given topic, to frame research questions, to conduct an investigation involving the collection and analysis of data, and to draw evidence-based conclusions.

One to one supervision: Eight hours per year

Seminars and classes: 20 hours per year

Lectures: 35 hours per year

Practical sessions: 45 hours per year

Small group teaching: Six hours per year

Literature reviews: Some assignments and the dissertation require literature reviews.

Posters and presentations: Presentations are made at the end of each studio project. Sometimes this includes the production of a poster. Each student gives a presentation on their initial reflective case study.

Feedback

Students are given formal feedback on their assignments and informal feedback throughout their course, including during supervisions. Feedback from supervisors also results in an annual progress report at the end of year one and termly reports during year two.

Assessment

Thesis

Dissertation: 15,000 words maximum.

Essays, projects and written papers

A reflective case study: 4,000 words maximum.

One essay: 3,000 words maximum.

One group project: 7,000 words maximum.

Practical assessment

In the six course weeks, students are asked to work in small multi-disciplinary groups to think, discuss, draw, write and persuade in order to come to a unified solution to the set problem over the course of a few half days. At the end of each week all teams present their solutions to their fellow students and a review panel of studio leaders and stakeholders.

Other assessment

Each student gives a presentation on one of their first year assignments to their fellow students and the course directors.

Requirements

Expected academic standard

Applicants for this course will normally have achieved a UK 2.i honours degree or overseas equivalent.

In addition to the academic entrance requirement, applicants need to have at least three years of professional experience in the built environment since graduating.

Language requirement

CAE: Grade A or B (with at least 193 in each individual element) plus a Language Centre assessment

CPE: Grade A, B, or C (with at least 200 in each individual element)

Fees and funding

The fees for 2019 entry will be £10,308 per year, which includes college membership and tuition fees. This does not include accommodation and meals, but you will benefit from reduced rates at Wolfson College.

Students will be expected to cover the application fee (£60 online) and any costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence during residential sessions in Cambridge.

Applications will be accepted online from 3 September 2018 until 31 May 2019.

Read the MSt Application Guide to find out more about the application process and what you need to do and consider as a potential applicant. See below for details of the supporting documents you will need to provide when applying for this course.

Supporting documents

Below are details of the Course Specific Questions and other supporting information you will be asked to provide before you can submit your application. These are marked with an asterisk (*). References and transcripts can be provided either at the time of submitting your application or shortly after.

References

You will need to provide the details of two referees who can provide academic or professional references. You will be asked to provide email addresses for your referees so that they can submit their reference via the online referencing system, so it is important for you to ensure that your referee is able to provide a reference for you before you submit your application form.

If your referees are unable to use the online referencing system, or do not have email addresses, please contact the ICE Admissions office for further assistance.

Your referees should be two senior people acquainted with your work and who are able to comment on your academic and/or professional suitability to undertake the course. Ideally one of these references will be an academic. If this is not possible, two professional references will be accepted.

The referees should describe:

How long they have known you and in what capacity.

Their opinion of your experience, achievements, professional interests, and the capabilities which you will bring to the course.

Whether they believe you will fit well on a Master’s level course concerned with the built environment and requiring interdisciplinary group work and individual research.

Whether they consider you to have the enthusiasm, commitment and determination necessary to complete the course successfully.

Academic transcripts

A transcript is a list of all the courses you have taken during a programme of study, with the result you obtained, and with the credit value if applicable.

If you are currently studying, please provide a transcript listing the courses taken during your programme of study, with the results or grades obtained for each.

If you have previously completed degree-level study, please provide a transcript or degree certificate for each degree-level programme you have studied, showing the date the degree was awarded and the final class or grade obtained.

The transcript should be uploaded via your Self-Service, using the 'Academic - pre-decision' category. Please note that we may also ask you to send the originals via post if we make you an offer of admission and supplying these may be a condition of your offer.

If your documents are not in English, you must also upload a full translation of each document, prepared by a registered translator.

Research proposal*

Please include a research proposal. In some cases it will be possible for students to change their proposal once they have been accepted on to the programme. The proposal should be 500-1000 words in length, and outline the topic you wish to research, mostly during the second year of the course.

The proposal should include:

A straightforward, descriptive, and informative outline of the scope of the research and what is intended to be achieved.

An account of why this topic is relevant and worth investigating from a built environment perspective.

A proposed main research question (or hypothesis), which should be focused and not overly broad,

A brief account of the approach you will take, i.e. the research design and methods.

A discussion of the likely data sources that your research will draw upon, and how you intend to gain access.

A short bibliography, i.e. a list of sources you have used.

You will also be asked to provide a short summary of your proposal in your application form.

Curriculum Vitae*

You are required to provide a professional CV with your application.

Professional qualifications

If you have professional qualifications or memberships relevant to your application, you may upload documentary evidence, stating the date the qualification or membership was obtained. This is not a requirement for this course, but may support your application.

Personal statement*

Applicants are encouraged to provide information within the application form about their motivation for applying for the course and to outline relevant experience and interests.

Letter of support from your employer

The Master’s is designed for those in full-time employment, with assignments undertaken in a work-based context. If you will be in employment during your studies, please ask your employer to provide a letter stating that they support your application and understand/accept that in undertaking the course you will need time away from work to attend the residential sessions. If appropriate, an employer may want to indicate their appetite for implementing some of your learnings from the programme.

If you are self-employed or in any other position not requiring the approval of an employer, then please provide a note signed by yourself in lieu of the letter of support from an employer.

Writing sample

Evidence will be required to be uploaded via your Self-Service under the Writing sample category

A writing sample is not needed for this course, unless one is requested after the application has been reviewed.